Looking for used equipment

[caseyjaydarling]

I'm slowly (stinking budget!) getting pieces together to set up my tank. Just wondering if anyone has a decent submersible heater laying around that you would be willing to part with? I have a 26g tank, so I think a 100w would work... Let me know!

Thanks, Casey

[Jrmass]

Wished I had known last week you were looking for a heater I actually just tossed out 3 old heaters that I had (2 50's and a 150) I could have just given them to you. Only reason I pitched them is because they are all too small for any of my setups and I don't usually trust older heaters as you can never tell if they will work properly or not.

Jason

[caseyjaydarling]

bummer

[caseyjaydarling]

Well, I finally got my tank set up and running. Still looking for a heater and a skimmer though. Sorry I haven't made it to a meeting yet. I look forward to meeting some people here.

[Jrmass]

Shame you couldn't have made it to my meeting there were so many people here that you basically would have met more than 75% of the club in one shot lol. As I said before I think you are best off just buying a new heater (I don't usually trust the used ones as you can never tell if they are going to fail or not). As for a skimmer watch Reef Central and you'll find one for sure there! That's where I buy some of my equipment from and I've had good luck.

Jason

[caseyjaydarling]

What kind of hang-on skimmers have you guys used? I used to have a seaclone and wasn't very happy with that. I ran an Urchin on my last tank, but have not heard great things about the Remora. Maybe I should just get a cheap Odyssea skimmer. Seems to be some fans of it on RC.

[pogodzib]

I had good luck with both my in-sump AquaC EV skimmer and HOT Remora skimmer. With any AquaC skimmer, you want to upsize the pump one size larger than they recommend to get better results. I haven't checked into what the latest and greatest HOT skimmer is for a while, but if you search aorund, I'm sure you'll be able to find out pretty quickly what everyone is recommending. I do know that I'd stay away from the cheap Odyssea skimmers and that a lot of people were raving about the Coralife Needlewheel skimmers because of the skimmate they produce for a very reasonably prices skimmer. Seaclones are junk, but I like playing with mine at times for hte fun of it.

As for the heater, I agree that you should buy a new, and not used, one. Older heaters have always been prone to failure.

[caseyjaydarling]

well, i took a chance and got the odyssea. i got the skimmer and a magnet cleaner for less than 60 bucks shipped. i know you usually get what you paid for, but with only a 26 gallon tank i figure it's worth a shot. it's not like i have monster reefs like most of you guys! someday.....
i'll let you guys know how it works.
thanks chris for the cup of sand. hopefully my cycle will be in full swing soon. have any of you guys tried the raw shrimp? or do you just seed with sand/live rock?

[Jrmass]

I have done the prawn on a Freshwater tank only and it did work... not sure how it does with a Saltwater though.

[Kyuss]

I have never done the shrimp trick myself but I know people that have and it worked for them.

[pogodzib]

The LR alone will have enough dead stuff and bacteria on it for the cycle so you don't need to add anything into the tank.

[caseyjaydarling]

I added about 4 pounds of live branch rock from OTP to my rock I already had. Also, Chris gave me some sand from his tank, so that should be sufficient. The branch rock I got is all covered with brown crap now. Not sure if it's diatoms or not, but it doesn't blow off the rocks like cyano. I'll test my water tonight hopefully, and see what I get for ammonia and nitrites. It's been running for 2.5 weeks, so hopefully I'll get something.

[pogodzib]

The brown stuff usually shows up on rock around the two week mark in the cycle process and should go away on it's own within a week or two.

[caseyjaydarling]

I'm not to worried about it, I just thought it was strange that it was only on the live rock. I tested my water last night and I have a trace of ammonia and no nitrites. However, that is according to my test kit that was in my garage all winter. Not sure if it froze or not.

[Jrmass]

That would sound right as the nitrite will show up as it begins to remove the ammonia. If you are just starting to get ammonia the nitrIte levels will be so low that they probably wouldn't show up yet. As the ammonia levels rise as will your nitrItes. Then after the nitrIte levels begin to rise you will notice nitrAtes will rise and the nitrIte will begin to lower ultimately finishing the cycle process. Keep in mind that you should also do a water change while the cycle is progressing to remove any additional decaying material (I have heard that the best time to do this is when you begin to notice nitrIte levels starting to rise).

Jason